1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an analog electronic timepiece.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventionally, there have been analog electronic timepieces which can perform display relating to various functions in addition to the time display function. Some of the analog electronic timepieces include function hands and rotating plates used for display relating to other functions and used for indicating the function types of the displayed contents in addition to time hands such as hour hands and minute hands which are used when displaying time and a date wheel displaying an indicator indicating a date.
In such multifunctional electronic timepiece, each of the hands and the rotating plates is required to have its own operation which is different from the time display and is able to be rotated independently by an individual stepping motor and a gear train mechanism in some cases. However, when the number of the hands and the rotating plates increases, more electric power is required to drive the stepping motors and more space is required to provide the stepping motors and the gear train mechanisms, leading to enlargement of timepieces. Thus, in some of such electronic timepieces, a function hand and a rotating plate which do not need to operate independently are combined so as to be rotated in conjunction with each other by a single stepping motor and the configuration and location of the gear train mechanisms are contrived to save the space, which is described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2010-223689, for example.
However, since there is a limit to the number of stepping motors which can be located inside a timepiece having a predetermined size, stepping motors cannot be effectively utilized if they are provided for independently driving the hand and the rotating plate which operate less frequently. On the other hand, if a plurality of hands and rotating plates which perform display independently are operated by a single stepping motor, the number of operations of the stepping motor increases to maintain a plurality of display contents accurately and more operation time is required for maintaining the accurate display condition, leading to inferior usability for a user.
The present invention relates to an analog electronic timepiece which can operate a plurality of hands effectively without deteriorating usability for a user.